2009-10 Season
The 2009-10 Season is the Chicago Blackhawks' 84th season in the NHL. The season began on October 2, 2009 (with a pair of games in Helsinki, Finland against the Florida Panthers) and ended on June 9, 2010 (when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup, beating the Philadelphia Flyers four games to two in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals). At the time, the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup gave the organization its first NHl championship since 1961. The Blackhawks also made the playoffs in back to back seasons for the first time since the 1996-1997 season. Offseason At the time, the Blackhawks were coming off one of their best years in recent history during the 2008-09 NHL season, going 46-24-12 and finishing with 104 points. They finished 2nd in the Central Division and 4th in the Western Conference. The team's 46 wins were their most since winning 47 in the 1992–93 NHL season. The Blackhawks’ reached the 100-point mark for the first time since the 1992–93 season and improved by 16 points over the past season when their 88-point total left them three points away of a playoff berth. They were the only NHL team to improve on its record in each of the previous four seasons. The Blackhawks made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2002 and it was their second playoff appearance in the previous eleven years. In the playoffs, the Blackhawks defeated the Calgary Flames and the Vancouver Canucks before losing to the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals. It was the Blackhawks first appearance in the Western Conference Finals since 1995. However, the team had a turbulent offseason. The Blackhawks saw assistant General Manager Rick Dudley resign from his position and join the Atlanta Thrashers as associate General Manager. On July 1, 2009, the Blackhawks made a significant acquisition to the team when they signed five-time all-star Marian Hossa to a twelve-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks worth $62.8 million. At the time, it was the most lucrative deal in team history. The signing of Hossa by the Blackhawks coincided with the departure of the team's leading scorer from the previous season Martin Havlat to the Minnesota Wild. The other key additions for the Blackhawks were John Madden and Tomas Kopecky. Along with Martin Havlat, Nikolai Khabibulin, Samuel Pahlsson and Matt Walker were notable losses for the team. Shortly after signing Hossa, the team disclosed that he was still rehabilitating a shoulder injury he sustained during the previous postseason. Marian underwent shoulder surgery and ended up missing the first 22 games of the season. During the offseason, The NHL Players' Association filed a grievance, saying that the Blackhawks missed the deadline for giving qualifying offers to restricted free agents which caused General Manager Dale Tallon to quickly sign eight players to make sure that they didn't end up as unrestricted free agents. The mistake proved to be a large influence in the removing of Dale as General Manager. He was replaced with Stan Bowman (the assistant General Manager and son of Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman). The NHL also investigated Marian Hossa's contract as well. The Blackhawks named Kevin Cheveldayoff (who was the General Manager of the Chicago Wolves of the AHL) as the assistant General Manager. The team also promoted assistant coach Marc Bergevin to the position of director of player personnel. In August of 2009, the Blackhawks saw star player Patrick Kane embroiled in controversy when he and his cousin were arrested in Buffalo, New York. Kane was apprehended in the early morning hours after allegedly punching a cab driver when he claimed to not have proper change for their trip fare. He was charged with second-degree robbery (which is a Class C felony) and fourth-degree criminal mischief & theft-of-services (both of which were Class A misdemeanors). Kane pleaded not guilty to the charges and on August 17, 2009, he apologized for the arrest. On August 19, 2009, Kane and his cousin appeared before a grand jury. While they were cleared of any felony charges, they were still indicted on misdemeanor assault, theft and harassment charges. The next day, Kane and his cousin reiterated their not guilty pleas when appearing in court. On August 27, 2009, Kane and his cousin pleaded guilty to noncriminal disorderly conduct charges and were both given conditional discharges. The Blackhawks entered the 2009-10 NHL season with high expectations. Bob Duff of NBC Sports predicted that the Blackhawks would finish with 101 points, finish 2nd in the division and be a 4th seed in the Western Conference. Jim Neveau of "The Hockey Writer's" wrote that the Blackhawks would win the division and be a second seed in the conference. Regular Season Facts *On October 12, 2009, the Calgary Flames scored the first five goals in the 1st period, but the Blackhawks rallied to win 6–5 in overtime. *On November 25, 2009, the Blackhawks scored three short-handed goals in a 7–2 win over the San Jose Sharks *On April 6, 2010, the Blackhawks won their 50th game of the season against the Dallas Stars, setting a new franchise record for wins in a season. *On April 7, 2010, the Hawks notched their 109th point of the season against the St. Louis Blues, setting another franchise record. *On April 9, 2010, the Hawks won their 23rd game of the season on the road against the Colorado Avalanche, setting yet another franchise record. *The Blackhawks had solid goaltending during the regular season, finishing first in the League in shutouts (with 11). They also led the NHL in shorthanded goals scored (with 13). Stanley Cup Playoffs Facts *The Chicago Blackhawks have qualified for the playoffs in back-to-back years for the first time since 1996 and 1997. *The Blackhawks have won their division for the first time since the 1992–93 season. *The Blackhawks have reached the Western Conference Finals for the 2nd year in a row. *On May 18, 2010, the Blackhawks tied an NHL playoff record of 7 straight wins on the road. *Jonathan Toews set a franchise playoff record on May 21 by earning a point in 12 consecutive games, breaking Stan Mikita's record. His streak ended at 13 games after failing to register a point in game one of the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals. *On May 23, 2010, the Blackhawks won their first Conference Final since the 1991–92 season. *Marian Hossa became the first player in history to make three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals with three different teams after accomplishing the feat with the 2008 Pittsburgh Penguins and the 2009 Detroit Red Wings. *Jonathan Toews became the 25th member of hockey's prestigious Triple Gold Club after winning the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks, an Olympic gold medal with Canada earlier in the year and a World Championship (also with Canada in 2007). *The Stanley Cup win gave the city of Chicago the distinction of being the only city to have at least a championship in each of the four professional sports leagues since 1985, following championships by the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX, the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s, (in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 & 1998) and the Chicago White Sox in 2005. Team Leaders *Goals: Patrick Kane (30) *Assists Patrick Kane (58) *Points: Patrick Kane (88) *Penalties in minutes (PIM): Ben Eager (120) *Plus/minus: (+) Patrick Sharp & Marian Hossa (+24) (–) Dustin Byfuglien (–7) *Wins: Cristobal Huet & Antti Niemi (26) *Goals against average: Antti Niemi (2.25) Roster *2 Duncan Keith *4 Niklas Hjalmarsson *5 Brent Sopel *6 Jordan Hendry *7 Brent Seabrook *8 Kim Johnsson *10 Patrick Sharp *11 John Madden *15 Andrew Ebbett *16 Andrew Ladd *19 Jonathan Toews *20 Jack Skille *22 Troy Brouwer *24 Nick Boynton *25 Cam Barker *28 Jake Dowell *29 Bryan Bickell *31 Antti Niemi *32 Kris Versteeg *33 Dustin Byfuglien *36 Dave Bolland *37 Adam Burish *39 Cristobal Huet *46 Colin Fraser *50 Corey Crawford *51 Brian Campbell *52 Radek Smolenak *55 Ben Eager *81 Marian Hossa *82 Tomas Kopecky *88 Patrick Kane Player Statistics Skaters *(GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes)'' |} |} Notes *†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Blackhawks. Stats reflect time with the Blackhawks only. *‡Traded mid-season Goaltenders *(''Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA= Goals Against Average; SA= Shots Against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save Percentage; SO= Shutouts) |} |} Notes *†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Blackhawks. Stats reflect time with the Blackhawks only. *‡Traded mid-season Awards & Records Awards Transactions Trades Free Agents Acquired Free Agents Lost Players Claimed From Waivers Players Lost From Waivers Player Signings Draft Picks In the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Chcago Blackhawks made a total of six picks. Category:Seasons